Intermittant Motorized Traction has long been used for the successfull treatment and rehabilitation of a large percentage of human back problems. Generally, the patient that is undergoing treatment lays in a horizontal position, and is sometimes strapped at the waist or the feet to avoid movement when traction is mechanically applied to either extremity of the body. Motorized machines are also available that apply traction to the head and spinal column while the patient is sitting below the machine. While in the sitting position, the lower part of the body acts as a counter weight to the vertical force that is applied to the head harness on the patient.
While the value of intermittant traction for curing back problems has long been known in the medical field, it has not reached wide spread use because of some basic inhibiting factors. For the doctors in private practice, the Motorized Machines have proven cumbersome bacause of the space they require--in most cases a special room--and they all require a trained attendant to strap in the patient and monitor the action of the machine. This is obviously because of the chance that the motorized machine could experience some kind of mechanical failure, and possibly cause some injury for which the physician could be held liable.
The special requirement of expensive space and a special attendant, which is not constantly required, adds up to an "over head" that the private doctors claim "will not be accepted by the patient."; and especially for the extended treatments that are usually required to complete a cure. Some doctors have stated that a patient with a degenerating back condition should have the means to apply self treatment on a continuing basis--and particularly when some over-exertion agravates the condition.
The economics of the situation, they state, requires that the self-help equipmant should cost no more than approximately ten visits to the doctors office. The logic being that, after several initial visits, the doctor could prescribe the portable self help machine for no more than the cost of the actually required number of visits. The equipment that is distributed through the Medical Equipment Rental Stores must also be made to be both portable, and inexpensive enough to pay off quickly for the store.
It is obvious from the discussion of the inhibiting factors to the wide spread use of cyclic traction for back rehabilitation, that a successful machine for self help must be both economical and portable, as well as circumventing the need for an attendant; by putting the generation of the traction force completely in the hands of the operator/patient--such as with any simple exercise equipment.
It is, therefore, one object of this invention to provide a portable Traction Machine that is very inexpensive in basic design, and which may be totally controlled by the operator who is receiveing treatment, thereby eliminating the need for an attendant.
It is another object of this invention to provide a self monitoring machine that produces audio feedback signals, in the form of beeps, that tell the operator, (1) When he has reached a preset limit of pressure, (2) When he has reached five pounds over the Preset Pressure, (3) How long to hold the preset Dwell Time at the maximum traction, and (4) When to start each new cycle, as preset into the monitor.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide a machine that generates vertical traction to the head and upper portion of the cervical area of the spinal column, by the use of the arms of the operator, which when used to press down on a pair of hand stirrups, exert an upward pressure on the head, and an upward pressure on both shoulders which is always one-half of the pressure applied to the head, and which removes a good portion of the dead weight of the arms and upper portion of the body; thus enabling more of the monitored traction pressure to be applied to the upper portion of the spinal column.
Still another object of this invention is to conveniently apply Cyclic Traction Pressure to the head and upper portion of the Spinal Column of an operator; through a pulley linkage that also applies a balanced upward pressure on both shoulders that is always one-half of the upward pressure on the head, regardless of the relative position of each arm. In the human skeleton there is a semi-rigid connection between the upper spinal column and the shoulder bones; which then connect to the arms. This connection carries a good portion of the weight of the upper torso. When traction pressure is applied to the Head and Spinal column in the Cervical (i.e. the seven upper) vertebrae, the shoulder connections and the associated weight of the upper torso tend to isolate the vertebrae that are further below, from the traction force. The 50% lift to the shoulders, that occurs with the operation of the invention, removes a good portion of the shoulder load, and allows the aligning traction force to reach further down into a greater portion of the spine of the operator.
The invention provides an additional feature when it is used in the prescribed manner. When the operator is seated on a stool, with his back against a wall, and he presses downward on the hand stirrups and cords from the machine, the operator is automatically forced into an erect posture, which is perfect for applying Intermittant Traction and aligning the vertebrae of the Spinal Column.